Department of Foreign Languages

Department of English and Foreign Languages

Department of English

In a world where effective English is the visa to success, the globalization of business has brought technical communication to the forefront of academics and industry. Success in this competitive world depends not only on acquiring knowledge but also on developing effective communication skills. The Department of English provides students with the vital training to meet the demands of global communication and helps them develop proficiency in English.

In today’s global scenario, it is very important that engineering students must have a basic knowledge of at least one foreign language.

The foreign language courses have been developed to ensure the integration of language, literature, and culture at all levels, as well as to achieve and maintain coherence from level to level, in terms of the development of students’ abilities in the following areas: language proficiency, cultural literacy, and critical and creative engagement.

History
The Department was established in 1985 as Department of English. It expanded to include other foreign languages such as German and Japanese and became the Department of English and Foreign Languages in 2005─06. Subsequently, French was added followed by Korean in the academic year 2007─08. Chinese was also included as an option from the academic year 2009─10. Such an exposure secures the students high prospective global careers.

Academics
A course in spoken English has been designed to meet the language needs of students who come from China and Japan, at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. It aims to improve the students’ fluency and ability to communicate effectively in academic, professional and social contexts. The course mainly focuses on the development of spoken and written skills and proficiency in pronunciation, accent and flow of the language.

Foreign language courses are designed to give engineering students the opportunity to receive credit in a college-level language course. These courses are tailored to the specific language needs of the future professionals. The regular assessment of our students ascertains unrivalled quality and the greatest possible success for all learners.

The department offers (BEC) Business English Certificate (Cambridge University) training programme to students at all the three levels (Preliminary, Vantage and Higher). The department has six qualified BEC trainers. Students are given international accent training practice in the language laboratory in order to grab BPO opportunities.

Research activities are encouraged and the department offers research programmes under the supervision of a Research Co-ordination Committee chaired by the Head of the Department along with the Doctoral Committee.

Human Resources
The Department has 36 teaching and 3 non teaching staff members. The Foreign Language staff members are 18 in number − 6 for French, 6 for German, 5 for Japanese and 1 for Korean. In addition we have native French and Chinese tutors to give the classes an opportunity for authentic learning.
We are proud of the fact that our faculty get an opportunity to go abroad on deputation for teaching assignments through a nationwide selection process.

Foreign Languages

As the world comes to India and Indians make an impact in countries abroad, many technology professionals find that the knowledge of foreign languages gives them a definite edge over their technical counterparts. The Department of Foreign Languages has designed courses in French, Japanese, German and Chinese to meet global needs and turn these foreign languages into an asset for those who intend to join multinational companies and look for opportunities abroad.

The Department of Foreign Languages consists of eleven well qualified faculty members. Some of them have been associated with either Germany, Japan or France in their own fields of professional experience. This helps the faculty members to teach students not only the foreign language, but also initiate them in the culture of these countries.

FRENCH

French, deemed as a global language, is widely used in Europe and Canada. The course also enhances the scope of engineering students finding placement in companies with French collaborations in India. Students are also trained for the Level-I exam in French conducted by the French cultural center, Alliance Française, Nungambakkam, Chennai, which is internationally recognized.

GERMAN

Numerous German companies are emerging in India. The increased cooperation between the two countries have opened job opportunities in Germany as well. Learning German helps students to get preference over others in getting employment in such companies and in seeking employment abroad.

JAPANESE

Engineering students benefit greatly in receiving instruction in the three Japanese scripts, namely Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. As more and more Japanese clients seek software solutions from India, knowing the language is a definite advantage for fresh engineers who intend to join software companies.

KOREAN

Currently people become involved in learning Korean to a greater extent, because this kind of language can provide one with societal and business opportunities in the countries which speak Korean as their main language. One of the most advantages about Korean language is that it is easy to learn due to its logical and simple script as well as the absence of tones, and a number of English words.